Coffee Beans & Crumbs
by RY16
Summary: "Look I know I keep coming here and for some reason it's always your shift but don't you dare judge me I need these for my sanity!" Coffeeshop AU
The sunlight spilled in through the blinds as he finally commenced his three-page essay for his Philosophy class after sending his Psychology assignment to his teacher with still around two and a half hours to go.

He stared at it for a couple of minutes; paced around the room, scrunching up his nose and sighing every forty seconds. Perhaps enrolling in this class out of curiosity wasn't such a good idea after all. At some point he rubbed the back of his neck, sighed yet again and sauntered into the kitchen for his umpteenth cup of coffee.

He opened the cabinet and searched through empty bags he still hadn't gotten around to throwing out. Oikawa's lip twitched. "Obviously," he mumbled to himself along with a few threats directed at no one in particular as he discovered no bags with actually any coffee inside.

Well, without some caffeine there was no way in hell he was getting that essay done by 10 o'clock today. His eyebrows shot up as a thought came to his mind. Of course, some cookies could help – specifically chocolate-filled ones! This was one tough essay, so chocolate was definitely the right choice. Perhaps even the only choice. He pulled a bowl from the cabinet and grabbed the cookie jar from the top shelf. His body froze in place, his eyes widening in despair. "OF COURSE," he burst out laughing for no reason in particular until his knees had given out and he was clutching at his stomach, gasping for air.

Today was going to be a challenge.

He rose to his feet, patting down his clothes as he trailed to his desk and quickly checked the internet to see when his favorite café opened. He nodded. "Seven o'clock, that's not such a bad hour," Oikawa muttered to himself.

He still had to find something to occupy thirty minutes with though – and just as that thought crossed his mind, an unusually unpleasant odor made him scrunch his nose. He quickly pinched his nose with his index and thumb, looking for any rotten food on the counter, sink or even fridge. It wouldn't be the first time he'd find green-colored mold on plates or chemical-waist looking food that had been forgotten in his fridge. Oikawa took pride in being a clean person, or at least he used to before he had started university. Suddenly, there were three essays, five assignments and an oral exam every other week!

After a thorough search he raised his head high and smiled to himself, not having found anything spoiled or moldy.

"Oh," he mouthed. If it wasn't food then it must've been… Oikawa grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it over his nose, taking one long sniff. His lips curled into a sneer and then he knew his free thirty minutes would be occupied with a nice, long shower.

…

He stepped into the coffee shop. There was something about the rich smell of coffee, or the constant and always lovely warmth inside that always made him smile and sigh in relief. He clutched the strap of his computer bag tighter as he approached the line. He peeked above a guy's shoulders to watch the barista, Iwaizumi.

Oikawa kept thinking more and more that it was fate and that he should ask him out because every damn time he came here, it was Iwaizumi's shift. When it came down to it, of course. He never had the guts to do it. He probably thought he was some coffee-loving hipster who liked the free Wi-Fi – which to be completely honest, he was – but he liked to think he had a charming personality as well. Although, Oikawa wasn't sure how Iwaizumi was ever going to notice that if Oikawa never said anything more than to ask for coffee and stare bluntly at the guy – but he had hope!

"Welcome to Coffee Beans & Crumbs. How may I help you today?" It sounded extremely cheerful and delightful in his head but Iwaizumi looked as if he might drop dead right there with those dark bags under his eyes.

His usual order was complicated and vain like Venti, with foam, honey, cinnamon and low-fat milk or whatever he could come up at the time so he could stand near the counter for as much time as possible. Right now, though…

"Just put the strongest stuff you have in the biggest cup you have," he said flatly. He was too exhausted today. "Oh and I'd like a full box of chocolate-chip raspberry cookies. No need for a bag though I'm just going to eat them now."

"Not the usual pompous stuff, huh?" The barista mused in a low voice as he prepared his order. Oikawa's eyebrows shot up and he smirked slightly at the snide remark he wasn't supposed to hear.

"Here you go," he gave him a small tight-lipped smile, the kind you give your annoying customer when you don't feel like working.

Oikawa grabbed his cookies and his coffee, mumbling a thanks and set his things down at the farthest corner of the café where you could barely see the counter. Usually he'd sit in the closest individual tables but he was too damn busy to think about boys right now.

It took a while for the coffee to get his creative juices flowing, the lights were too bright and the café was too damn chilly for his taste. But when the caffeine kicked in, so did his philosophical side.

Soon he was out of cookies and coffee, though.

"Hello again," Oikawa greeted. "Can I get the same order?"

Iwaizumi pressed his lips into a thin line. "Yeah, we're out of that sort of cookies but we have some strawberry-lemon ones?" Oikawa raised a brow and let out a deep sigh.

"Strawberry-lemon cookies? Are you serious? Who the hell created those cookies? Who even orders that stupid-ass combination of flavors!?"

"I'm pretty sure you bought a box like two days ago, actually. But if you don't calm down I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Iwaizumi said nonchalantly.

"Look I know I keep coming here and for some reason it's always your shift but don't you dare judge me I need these for my sanity," he blurted out gesturing dramatically with his hands in the air.

Iwaizumi's eyes widened and he took a step back, reaching inside his apron's pocket to get his phone.

"Wait," Oikawa raised his hands in the air in a defensive way. "Let's both just calm down here."

"I'm pretty calm," the other retorted, bringing his phone to his ear after dialing some number.

Oikawa leaned over the counter, grasping for the Iwaizumi but the barista stepped back out of his reach. "Wait a minute, you little shit! I'm like your best customer!"

"Hello," Iwaizumi turned his back to him, stepping through the employee door, leaving Oikawa frozen at the counter, the whole café staring at him.

"Hey, hi, hello there!" He blurted out as soon as Iwaizumi returned. He straightened his back and grinned broadly. "You know," he trailed. "There really is no need for the police to be involved! Honestly, I overreacted. I'll just take the strawberry-lemon ones. It seems like an interesting flavor," he said with what he hoped was a dazzling smile.

Iwaizumi stared at him in confusion for a moment, his eyes darting between his phone and Oikawa. "Oh," he uttered. "No, I— he pointed at the employee door and at the phone, his lips moving like he was about to say something but didn't quite know what. A light shade of red crept up to his cheeks. "I didn't call the police," he finally managed to say, giving him a brief smile.

"You didn't?" Oikawa slumped on the counter, running his hand through his hair. "Fuck," he sighed. "I thought I was going to jail," he shook his head and gazed up at Iwaizumi with a smile. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"I- hum, sorry," he said and couldn't help but smile back. "I was, hum, calling a friend of mine who delivers those cookies and I was just… I was just asking if he could bring some earlier than it was scheduled…" Iwaizumi blushed harder.

Oikawa's jaw dropped. "You did that for me?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "I mean, like you said you're our best customer."

"I thought you hated me," he said in small voice, feeling vulnerable and afraid he'd say he did.

"Why the hell would you think that?"

"Well… because of my usually pompous orders," he shrugged back, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Oh," Iwaizumi clasped his hand to his mouth. "I'm sorry, you weren't suppo—

"I wasn't supposed to hear that? Damn, then you do think I'm an obnoxious jerk," he smiled softly, though it was a smile to lighten the mood – not at all sincere.

"Not at all," Iwaizumi approached the counter. "You're always really focused on your studies and you spend like hours and hours just typing omething or scribbling something with all these highlighted notes around you. Honestly, I think you're really cool."

Oikawa blushed madly, his eyes dropping to the floor. "You're pretty cool too," he mentioned. "You're always nice to people no matter how irritating… besides you remembered I ordered those cookies two days ago which I did, though to be completely honest," he licked his lips and smiled nervously. "I just bough them because you suggested them and they're somewhere in my incredibly messy kitchen and I haven't even opened the box yet because I really am a jerk and I don't know why the hell I'm still talking but hey, would you like to watch a movie with me sometime…?" Oikawa rubbed the back of his head and gave him a brief, tight-lipped smile that transformed into a full-on grin.

Iwaizumi froze, staring at him.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, of course. I get it, I mean I'm just that weird cookie-addict that lives nearby and talks way too much," Oikawa let out a laughter that hopefully didn't sound as nervous to Iwaizumi as it did to Oikawa.

"I- I- I'd love to."

* * *

 **To those of you who are waiting for a new chapter of Kiss & Make Up: Well, I've trying all day and I keep changing it. I'm not sure I know what I'm doing anymore. I might just start it again from scratch tomorrow. So I might not update this week because I'm also busy with uni.**


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